Way past clueless!!!

Part-time

Part-time

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A woman came in to the shop to get a new motor for her severely underpowered pontoon.
She bought a 26' pontoon, rated for a 150hp, but powered by a 2 stroke 40 hp merc... 4 stroke according to her, the dealer that sold it to her... and her husband who hapens to be a licenced car mecanic.
They ALL thought it was a 4 stroke because the oil was seperate from the gas :facepalm:
 
Sunsetrider

Sunsetrider

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

I wonder how long it ran after the oil reservoir ran dry . . .
 
Part-time

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

They didn't have it long enough to run out of oil. First time it got windy out they got scared and came and bought a brand new 115 4 stroke from us.
But this time they really have a 4 stroke... lol.
I just can't believe that a mechanic and the car salesman that took it on trade in and sold it to them didn't know the difference between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke.
 
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UncleWillie

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Part-time said:
... I just can't believe that a mechanic and the car salesman that took it on trade in and sold it to them didn't know the difference between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke.
Click to expand...

Forget the oil issue, The moment you started the engine you would know, they do not even sound the same.
Can you say "Wiiiiiing ding ding ding ding?"
 
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foodfisher

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Count me in as clueless. Till now, if you didn't have mix oil w/the gas it was 4 stroke.:facepalm:
 
Part-time

Part-time

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

foodfisher said:
Count me in as clueless. Till now, if you didn't have mix oil w/the gas it was 4 stroke.:facepalm:
Click to expand...
But what do you do for a living????
If a guy makes his livelyhood baking loaves of bread or engineering skyscrapers, I could understand them not knowing much about motors.
But for a guy that spends his days selling things that burn gasoline and even worse, the other that fixes them, not knowing the difference...
 
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foodfisher

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Residential remodels. Good point. Yes, it would be odd for me to not know if the stove was gas or electric.
 
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UncleWillie

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

For the other 300 + folks that have viewed this thread....

There are 2 stroke engines that you do not mix the Fuel and Oil prior to filling the tank.
The engine has a 2 stroke oil reservoir for the oil.
The engine mixes the oil with the fuel automatically as it is running.
You fill the oil tank, fill the gas tank, and start 'er up!
The engine will mix in oil as needed, no fussing around.

Run out of gas and the engine quits running.
Run out oil and the engine quits permanently, although some will have a low oil safety shutdown system.
Others size the tanks so you will run out of fuel first, This assumes you refill the oil every time you refill the gas.
 
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wcasey5

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Maybe they were worried about the oil consumption? :)
 
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Home Cookin'

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

you often see craigslist sellers who don't know 2 from 4 stroke-typically they operate them correctly but get confused about which is which, not knowing what "stroke" means in the first place. Adds an ugly dynamic at the negotiating stage (or for the guy who drove hours to look at it).

In this case I also wonder who rigged the boat so underpowered. That can be dangerous, even though people who know what they are doing might do it (a friend with many boats rigged a basic pontoon w/a small motor for his young daughters to take out and put around on--in his circumstances it was totally safe to do that, fun for them, low cost/low risk.)
 
1980Coronado

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

New Neighbor at the lake....they just bought the place last fall. He's never had power boats...ever. Just shooting the breeze and he says he's gotta call the mechanic to take a look at the Sea Doo's because they wont start....then he asks me..."do you have to put the oil in the gas in those?" I said that depends...are they 2 stroke or 4 stroke....he says with confidence....They're 3 stroke:facepalm:
 
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shrew

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Part-time said:
.
But for a guy that spends his days selling things that burn gasoline and even worse, the other that fixes them, not knowing the difference...
Click to expand...

Not many 2 stroke automobiles out there. After all they were an auto salesperson (not a mechanic) and an auto mechanic (not a boat mechanic). Just playing devils advocate.
 
bekosh

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Out of curiosity, how many strokes would this type of motor be? ;)
220px-Napier_deltic_animation_large.gif
 
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soggy_feet

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

I have 2 friends that I've lived with from time to time, both have modified cars. The one started with a stock subaru legacy and turned it into a 350ish HP car, even did his own tuning of the ECU fuel maps.
The other bought a 76 Porsche 911 Targa, cut the pillars off, welded a full cage, and then capped it with the roof from a coupe, had each and every fastener on the car replated with the original plating, then repainted the car. The car has been covered by a Porsche magazine with something like a 6 page feature.

Neither can disassemble/rebuild/tune a carburetor. The repair for a lean running push mower was to restrict the airflow to richen the mixture rather than clean/rebuild the carb. Instead of an air filter, it had a piece of cardboard with a 1/16" hole punched in it.

To their credit, it ran until it knocked and blew up. But it ran....
 
5150abf

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

The Wankel was still a 4 stroke yes, it just used a rotating piston.?.
 
spoilsofwar

spoilsofwar

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

5150abf said:
The Wankel was still a 4 stroke yes, it just used a rotating piston.?.
Click to expand...

Rotary engines such as the Wankel are 4 stroke and use rotors rather then pistons.

That animation posted is an interesting thing to look at but would be a nightmare to put into operation, given that it utilizes three crankshafts. lol.
 
Ned L

Ned L

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Re: Way past clueless!!!

Lets not give people here the impression that it is whether or not you add oil to the gas (either mixed or separate tank) that makes an engine two or four cycle (though this may be a correct correlation with outboards). Not all two cycle engines have oil mixed with the fuel (whether mixed in a single tank or self mixing with separate tanks).
Who would think that this is a two cycle engine?
1.jpg


A two cycle engine basically combines the power and exhaust cycles into one downward stroke of the piston and the intake and compression stroke into one upward stroke of the piston (hence two cycle or two stroke).
A four stroke engine uses one complete downward stoke of the piston for the power stroke, one complete upward stoke of the piston for the exhaust stroke, one complete downward stoke of the piston for the intake stroke and one complete upward stroke of the piston for the compression stroke (hence four cycle or four stroke).
It is the power stroke on every piston cycle that gives a two stroke engine a better power to weight ratio (hence two stroke outboards of the same HP are smaller and lighter than four stroke outboards).
Likewise it is the better scavenging and purging of air of a four stroke engine that makes it cleaner burning & more efficient (not to mention that small two stroke engines typically also burn the lube oil.
 
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